Wednesday, May 23, 2012

In only its second year as a program, Hough will play in the 4A regional finals after defeating I-Meck foe Mallard Creek 4-2 in the fourth round of the playoffs Wednesday.

With the game being postponed because of storms Tuesday night, the Huskies (21-10) were able to bring ace pitcher Brandon Gragilla onto the mound.

Despite being on short rest, having pitched against South Caldwell Friday, the 6-foot-5 junior left-hander, who’s 11-1 for the year, had another strong performance.

“He wanted it tonight,” said Hough coach Jimmy Cochran. “He did what he’s done all year for us.”

But Gragilla had a slow start, allowing the first Maverick batter he faced in the game, Jamel Harbison, to lead off with a triple. After the Huskies got the next two batters out, Kyle Bynum drove in Harbison to get Mallard Creek (20-9) the early 1-0 lead.

But Hough answered in its next outing, as A.J. Girting, who reached first on a walk to start the second inning, was driven in by a Nick Daddio single to tie the game.

In the top of third, the Huskies got the lead when Jared Sobo scored off a Johnny Piedmonte sacrifice fly. Daddio would go on to again score Girting.

Mallard Creek’s David Folk scored in the bottom of the inning, but Hough would add to its buffer in the fourth, when Eric Siler reached home off a Maverick error at first base.

Gragilla, whose only lost of the year came against the Mavericks, was glad to get the key win.

“It’s a great accomplishment to get this far,” he said. “Our team has done a good job. It feels good.”

Hough will face East Forsyth in the best-of-three, home-and-away state semifinal series, which begins Thursday.

“It’s amazing,” said Cochran. “I’m happy beyond belief for my guys. Last year we struggled and it wasn’t really a fun experience for our guys, but they stuck it out and came back hungry. It’s paid off.”

I-Meck's all-conference tennis, golf teams announced

Hough's David Sargent was named I-Meck golfer of the year, while Mooresville's Jake Combs and Hough's Ryan Wydra split the conference boys' tennis player of the year honors.

Lake Norman's Chris Carroll was tennis coach of the year. No coach of the year for golf was announced.

Here are the rest of the all-conference teams:

Boys' golf

PEYTON WHITE HOUGH

CONNER LEWIS HOUGH

SETH GANDY HOUGH

DAVID YANG HOUGH

PHILLIP PARRISH NORTH
MECK

CLAY BROWN HOUGH

NOLAN WATTS MOORESVILLE

ANDREW JOHNSON LAKE
NORMAN

TYLER MURPHY MALLARD
CREEK

ALEX COHLMA LAKE
NORMAN

BRANDON HOLST HOPEWELL

Boys' tennis

Armato, John (Hopewell)

Black, Collin (Hough)

King, Noah (Hough)

Ciuffo, AJ (Hough)

Duncan, Marquis (Vance)

Jacobo, Jeff (North Meck)

Llewellyn, Spencer (Mooresville)

Lowery, Patrick (Lake Norman)

Rajan, Shravan (Lake Norman)

Coody, Hamit (Lake Norman)

Dow, Greg (Lake Norman)

Gallagher, Sean (Lake Norman)

Two area teams in soccer semis

Hough's undefeated girls' soccer team will host Providence at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Cornelius. The Lady Huskies are playing in the4A state semifinals. The winner will face either Wilmington Hoggard or Raleigh Green Hope.

South Iredell will host Cuthbertson in the 2A state semis Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Lake Norman Charter lost to Thomas Jefferson in the state semifinals Saturday.

North Lincoln is lone area team left in softball playoffs

North Lincoln will travel to Madison High in Marshall Tuesday to play its fourth-round 2A playoff game Tuesday.

Monday, May 14, 2012

East Lincoln's Marcus "Bubba" McDowell and North Lincoln's Allie Castro both won individual state championships at last weekend's 2A track and field meet.

McDowell, a senior, won the 400-meter title with a 48.72. Castro's 11:18.62 time in the 3,200 meters allowed her to claim her state title. She was more than eight seconds faster than the state runner-up.

North Lincoln's Andrew Fea was second in the 1,600 meter run with a 4:27.80, while Ryan Shannon was third in the 3,200 meters (9:54.30).

Lake Norman Charter participated in the 1A state meet, where they were led by Stephanie Zaino's third place finish in the 3,200 meters as well as the boys' 4x800 meter relay team (Michael Westbay, Nathan Farber, Stephen Hack, Chris Hack) that finished as state runner-up. Here are the full 1A results.

South Iredell tennis player is state runner-up

South Iredell’s Patrick Hensley had a good weekend at the 2A
boys’ tennis state championships, winning three matches to reach the state final
match.

Hensley, a senior, defeated Central Davidson’s Levi Bruff
6-3, 6-1 in the first round before coming back from behind to beat Hillsborough
Cedar Ridge’s Zac Marion 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.

On the second day of the tournament, Hensley defeated Eben
Wells (Kill Devil Hills First Flight) 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinal before losing
to Salisbury freshman Michael Ogden 6-4, 6-0 for the state championship.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Singles and doubles titles are up for grabs this weekend as the N.C. High School Athletic Association holds its annual boys' tennis individual tournament championships May 11-12.

Semifinalists in both singles and doubles at the regional
level qualify for the state championships.

The 4A championships are scheduled for Millbrook Exchange
Park in Raleigh, while both the 1A and the 2A championships are set for the Cary
Tennis Center. The 3A championships will be held at the Burlington Tennis Center.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Davidson Day named Joel Justus as its new boys’ basketball coach Friday.

Justus, who will also serve as the school’s dean of students, has coached Woodberry Forrest (Va.) for four seasons. He guided that team to a Virginia Prep League regular season title in 2010 and two appearances in the conference championship game during his stint at the school. This past season, Woodberry Forrest was 10-15 (7-5 in conference).

"We were seeking to hire not only an outstanding basketball
coach but a dynamic and high integrity mentor of students," said Bonnie Cotter, Davidson Day's head of school, in a statement. "That is exactly what
we found in Joel and I feel privileged to be having the opportunity to bring
him to our school for the benefit of all our students and families."

Six players coached by Justus will be playing collegiate
basketball in the 2012 season, including four at the Division One level.

Justus is a 2004 graduate of UNC Wilmington, where he played basketball and was part of two NCAA tournament teams.

Before his tenure at Woodberry Forrest, Justus served as an assistant basketball coach at Elon.

Justus, a Winston-Salem native, replaces Ron Johnson, who announced his departure in March to take an assistant job at Marist College (N.Y.).

"The excitement and vision at the school is contagious and I
am excited to be a Patriot," said Justus in a statement.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

CHAPEL
HILL-- The N.C. High School Athletic Association Board of Directors
completed its spring Board meeting on Wednesday at the NCHSAA offices. Items which the Board studied and approved included:

- adoption of
a "mercy rule" in soccer; if a goal differential of nine is reached
by halftime or at any time in the second half, the game shall be terminated, to
go into effect for 2012-13; at least one half of game must be completed

- approved
going back to 12 weeks to play 11 football games, starting with 2013 season,
and approved two-year football calendar for 2013 and '14

- approved
additional scheduling allowance for wrestling for one tri meet and one
"multi team event" per week

- approved
moving starting date for two-pound growth allowance for wrestling from January
1 to December 25

-approved
requiring each non-faculty coach and newly hired coaches to take
"Fundamentals of Coaching" course through the National Federation to
coach a team at an NCHSAA school; recommend all coaching staffs be certified in
this area within three years

-added
fine of $250 to Handbook if schools have non-compliant uniforms to NFHS rule
codes

- approved
additional ways to return additional revenue to member schools; take operating
budget overage and also review any extra interest income from Endowment, and
half of that, based on a formula, will be distributed to schools which
participated in bracketed team sports playoffs. Schools traveling would receive
full share, hosting school would receive half share

- adopted
structured rate of expense reimbursements for football playoffs from first
round through regionals

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Three Lake Norman-area boys' tennis teams will take part in first-round playoff matches Tuesday afternoon.

In 4A, Hough and Lake Norman were the two I-Meck qualifiers. The Huskies, which finished second in the conference, will travel to Greensboro Page. They are led by No. 1 Ryan Wydra, a sophomore, and No. 2 Collin Black, a senior.

The regular-season champion Wildcats host Davie County. They're led by freshman Greg Dow, the conference tournament runner-up, as well as junior Shravan Rajan.

In the 1A tournament, Lake Norman Charter earned a first-round bye. The team will face the winner of the Mt. Airy-East Wilkes match May 8.

The individual boys' tennis regional tournaments take place Friday and Saturday. The 1A West tournament will be held at Jackson Park in Hendersonville, while the 2A West regional will be held at Brevard College. Hough will host the 4A West regional.

Playoff schedule

The boys' tennis dual-team playoffs are just the first of many postseason tournaments getting under way in the coming weeks. Here is the full NCHSAA playoff schedule.

Boys' golf
Regional: May 7
State: May 14-15

Boys' tennisIndividual
Regional: May 4-5
State: May 11-12

Dual team
1st round: May 1
District: May 8
Sectional: May 14
Regional: May 16
State: May 19